Hyderabad: Amidst ruckus and chaos created by protesting Congress and BJP members during the opening day of the joint session of the Telangana Assembly and Council on Monday, Governor ESL Narasimhan in his address asserted that the initiatives taken by the State Government in various fields had a significant impact in fulfilling the aspirations of all sections of people and had become a role model for the entire country.

The opening day of the budget session of the State Legislature began on a stormy note with the Congress in particular vociferously protesting over the “government’s failure” in protesting the interests of the farmers and other sections of the people.

Unfazed by the noisy scenes, the Governor continued his address and declared that Telangana state had won several accolades for its initiatives and acclaimed at both national and international levels. He said major initiatives of the government include construction of number of major and medium irrigation projects to bring waters of Krishna and Godavari rivers to the fields of farmers, high priority for the completion of Kaleshwaram project, rejuvenation of tanks under Mission Kakatiya, providing piped drinking water to each house hold under Mission Bhagiratha, improving the power situation, enactment of SC Special Development Fund and ST Special Development Act for earmarking funds for the development of these marginalized sections, among others. ”These welfare schemes ensured overcoming several challenges faced by the government and helped in bridging the critical development deficit faced by the state over decades”, he observed.

The Governor further observed with the proactive measures taken by the government, the state has been witnessing impressive economic growth since its formation. The average annual growth of Gross State Domestic Product of the Telangana region in the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh, in the two years preceding the formation at four percent was much lower than the all India growth rate of 5.9 percent. The situation reversed after the formation of Telangana State as it clocked an average annual growth of 8.6 percent of GSDP in the three-year period of 2014-15 to 2016-17, which is much higher than the national average of 7.5 percent. The Per-capita income of Telangana is estimated at Rs.1.54 lakh during 2016-17 as against the national per-capita income of Rs.1.03 lakh, he observed.

Nasrsimhan also highlighted various initiatives taken by the state government in various fields like agriculture and power sectors as a result of which the food grain production has achieved a record of 101.29 lakh tones during 2016-17 and supply of 24 hours quality power free of cost to about 23 lakh agriculture pump sets and lift irrigation schemes. Telangana is the only state in the country to achieve this distinction in power sector to end the distress of farmers”, he added.

16 Lakh Acres Irrigation Potential Created

The Governor pointed out that while agriculture was the mainstay of the state, irrigation was also its lifeline. Hence the government has prepared a comprehensive roadmap to utilize the available waters of Godavari and Krishna rivers optimally. Accordingly the government has taken up 23 major and 132 minor irrigation projects and steps were taken to fast-track completion of these projects. So far new irrigation potential of 16.64 lakh acres was created and an ayacut of 8.97 lakh acres stabilized, he said and added that the government was fully prepared to create irrigation potential of one-crore acres.

Narasimhan also spoke in detail about the various measures initiated by the state government to improve the agriculture sector, fisheries, horticulture, sheep distribution programme and the successful undertaking of the land records up-dation programme. On the industrial front, the TSiPASS policy has ensured Telangana emerging as the favourite destination for setting up industries among all other states in the country. As a result the state witnessed an unprecedented flow of investments of Rs.1.18 lakh crore with approvals to 6206 industrial units, with direct employment potential of 4.47 lakh persons. It is noteworthy that 3,703 units have commenced operations, he added.

The Governor was happy to note that Hyderabad City had become the base for many multinational companies for their most critical global operations. Hyderabad today houses over 1500 IT/ITES companies providing direct employment to over 4.3 lakh professionals, besides supporting indirect employment to over 7 lakh. The total value of software and IT product exports accounted for Rs.85.470 crore in 2016-17, he observed.

Narasimhan concluded his address by expressing his confidence that the deliberations during the budget session of the legislature “will be constructive and useful in evolving policies to achieve the goal of Bangaru Telangana” besides enhancing the faith in our democratic system. (NSS).